Marathon Goddess returns to Big Sur International Marathon

Just 10 days after her father died of pancreatic cancer, Julie Weiss qualified for the Boston Marathon, which would be one of 52 marathons she would run in 2012 to raise money to fight pancreatic cancer. Weiss also ran the Boston Marathon this year, and is back to run in Sunday's Big Sur International Marathon. (Photo courtesy of Julie Weiss)

Monterey >> Most of the time, Julie Weiss is a mild-mannered accountant and mother. But come race day, she dons her blue "Team for Life" shirt, bib and a purple flower in her hair as she transforms into the Marathon Goddess.

When Weiss first competed in the Big Sur International Marathon in 2012, she was in the midst of running 52 marathons in 52 weeks. The Santa Monica resident took on the task to raise money and awareness for pancreatic cancer. She continued to work full time during the week and would fly out on the weekends to compete. Seeing the label "Marathon Goddess" on a T-shirt, she decided that's what she would dub herself on race days.

Maurice Weiss, Julie's father, died of pancreatic cancer in 2010, just 35 days after he received the prognosis. She had grown closer to her dad after she started running marathons.

"My father was my biggest fan," Weiss said.

Before he died, she set a goal with him of qualifying for the Boston Marathon, the world's oldest annual marathon. She tried 18 times to qualify, falling just short before her father died. Just 10 days after he succumbed to cancer, she qualified for the Boston race at the California International Marathon in Sacramento.

"I felt my father with me," she said about when she finally competed in Boston.

Weiss, 44, was back at the Boston Marathon on Monday. She said the race brought her to tears.

"It was about coming together, uniting as a nation, as a world," she said about the event, a year after three people were killed by bombs that exploded near the finish line. "I've never had so many people thank me for running."

Like the Boston race, the Big Sur Marathon also has a special place in Weiss' heart. It was the fourth of her 52 marathons in 52 weeks between 2012 and 2013. Running along the coast reminds Weiss of her childhood and of her father.

"I love the ocean," she said. "I've always had a special connection to the ocean."

As she approached the end of the Big Sur Marathon in 2012, Weiss received strong crowd support.

"I can't think of a more beautiful place to run," she said.

While it came early in her run of 52 races in 52 weeks, Weiss said the Big Sur Marathon wasn't easy.

"It was one of the hardest of the 52," she said, citing head winds and hills as some of the obstacles she had to overcome.

It was along the coast of the Pacific Ocean that Weiss first got into running. She credits her dog, Jessie, for getting her started as a runner.

"I don't know if I would have started running if it wasn't for her," Weiss said.

Before she started running, Weiss was overweight and battling depression. After Weiss adopted Jessie, they would run on the beach every day in Santa Monica.

"I could only make it from one lifeguard tower to the next one, and then I would have to walk," Weiss said about when they first started. Running helped her get into shape and she no longer needs to take antidepressants.

Since then she has appeared on the "Today" show, CNN and she was one of seven runners featured in the film "Spirit of the Marathon II," which will be screened at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Museum of Monterey.

Working with the Lazarex Cancer Foundation, Weiss has raised more than $250,000 to fight cancer.

"We are very excited to be officially aligned with Julie and impressed how much she has done for a cause close to her heart," Lazarex president Dana Dornsife said.

Dornsife's brother-in-law Mike Miller died of pancreatic cancer.

"We are thrilled to have her on board to share our expansive mission to make sure that people who lack the means to travel to clinical trials will have one less thing to worry about," Dornsife said.

Thanks to treatment, Miller lived long enough to get to know his youngest daughter before he died.

"That's what everyone with cancer wants, more time with their loved ones," Weiss said.

What kept Weiss going through the 52 marathons in 52 weeks was all of the people she was running for.